Eenkes, Rippert (16th/17th century)

Rippert Eenkes like his father Eenke was a preacher of the Waterlander Mennonite congregation of Workum, Dutch province of Friesland. About 1600 he became an elder (Leeraar tot den vollen dienst). He had considerable influence in Friesland and also preached in Haarlem, in the province of Groningen, in Emden, and even in Danzig. He often had trouble with his co-elders; in 1618-1620 he was suspended from his office. Hans de Ries, the leading elder of the Dutch Waterlanders, attended and was apparently the moderator of the meeting held at Workum on 14 August 1618 in which Rippert was suspended. An account of these quarrels is found in Doopsgezinde Bijdragen 1903; the Amsterdam Archives contain a large number of letters about this conflict. About 1605-1606 Rippert was involved in a conflict with Joannes Biltius, Reformed pastor of Workum. Biltius debated with Rippert in the Mennonite meetinghouse in 1605. Thereupon Rippert had to hand in a written account of his principles to the magistracy of Workum; this account was handed in by Rippert in November 1606, not to the magistrate of Workum, but to the States of Friesland at Leeuwarden. Biltius answered with a very detailed refutation. It is not clear whether Rippert wrote an answer to this writing or not. The theme of this conflict was the question of the Scripturalness of infant baptism. The conflict seems not to have led to bad consequences for Rippert, since he was still serving after 1620. It is unknown how long he carried on his activities. He was still living in 1627, for in that year he published, as a contribution toward the settlement of the conflict which had arisen among the Waterlanders in Amsterdam concerning Nittert Obbesz, a booklet entitled Derthien Artijckelen, ghestelt door Rippert Eenkes ende sijne mede-hulpers . . . Nittert Obbes voor-gheleyt . . . (n.p., 1627).